Raikkonen no fan of new tracks

Purist Kimi Raikkonen admits that he is no fan of some of the new additions to the F1 calendar.

Be it his James Hunt alias or his attitude to the commercial demands of contemporary Formula One, it is clear that Kimi Raikkonen belongs in a bygone era of the sport.

Looking ahead to the new season, a season which sees Azerbaijan join the calendar in the form of the Baku European Grand Prix, the Finn has admitted his dismay at some of the other new tracks, revealing that, to him, they "all look the same".

"When we go to a new track, we know what to expect," he told Turun Sanomat. "They all look the same.

"There are no trees or anything else in the landscape," he continued. "Of course, each track is always a little bit different, and each corner at the track is a little bit different, but ultimately the new tracks are made up of Tilke corners."

Confessing that he regards Korea's Yeongam circuit as "the worst", and that Abu Dhabi is merely a race "in the desert", he admits that there is one new addition to the calendar he really enjoys.

Sadly, it is the Istanbul Park circuit, which, though popular with other drivers and fans, was dropped from the calendar in 2011 after just seven years.

"Turkey was a nice track," he said. "I also liked Magny-Cours, the track was so different, and nearby wasn't much hassle.

"Imola was one of the best," he adds, "there was always a great atmosphere and it was a great challenge.

"Also the Nurburgring," he concludes, one hoping that he is in fact referring to the Nordschleife... can't you just see him in an open face helmet, grinning ear to ear as he leaps the numrous yumps.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by gturner38, 07/01/2016 0:02

"The Nurburgring Grand Prix circuit is really a good track when compared to other F1 circuits with a lot of elevation change and more variety than the typical Tilke design. It just has the bad luck to be compared to the circuit on the other side of the gates."

"The Nordschliefe would be great but they could skip checking the legality planks afterward. Every finisher would be illegal due to wear over the yumps & bumps. Please, please rescue Istanbul Park from the Turkish Carmax franchise. It is one parking lot that needs to be an operating circuit again."

"alejandroFan appreciation, and great circuits. I don't care how much $$$$ the owners have..... They already have race tracks and F1 teams. They aren't poor by any means !

Kimi does know what he's talking about. I want to see a modern f1 race on the Nordschleif before another Russian Grand Prix. How many of us are sick of watching processional races with outcomes determined within the first few laps? Soooooooo boring watching cars hang back so as not to scrub off the tires or waste fuel. We paid to see racing, not tire and fuel management. How many false promises in 2015 of " were conserving tires to make a challenge at the end of the race" ? Every time I hear that I know someone just got a team order to hold position. Rant concluded..... For now"

"The Top Gear track is better than most of Tilke's tracks. They're all essentially a flat piece of land with some painted lines on. If you plonked someone down at ground level and removed all logos and branding, they'd be hard pushed to tell what that land is being used for."